Digimon: Command Line
by ArmaadaJ
Summary: In an alternate future where technology progressed at a much faster rate, Jinza Koyama and his 4 friends are suddenly transported to the Digital World - a once idyllic land that is now ravaged by war and evil. United with their Digimon partners, these chosen children must choose between returning to the Real World, and saving the Digital one.
1. Chapter 1 - Year 2046

**A/N: Hi there! This is my first fanfic ever and I'm so excited to finally be posting it! If you enjoy this story (and even if you don't) PLEASE consider leaving a review! Special thanks to my beta reader Paresh!**

 **Disclaimer: Digimon is copyright property of Akiyoshi Hongo, Bandai Namco, and Toei Animation. Please support the official release. The human characters in this story were created by me.**

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 **Chapter 1: Year 2046**

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It was possibly the best weather Japan had seen in the last ten years. The summer air, completely devoid of humidity, wrapped around Osaka and seemed to warm the heart of a city that had been made cold and indifferent by years of technological advancement, which had come at the expense of nearly everything else. Every animal seemed to emerge from a long hibernation, and many of the younger children had never seen the sun shine so brightly in all their lives. Even their parents, who had grown accustomed to instantaneous transportation, chose to take their children for walks through town instead. In many ways, it was the most perfect day a human being could ask for. But Jinzaburo Koyama didn't know or care about this. He was inside, playing video games.

Jinza leaned back with satisfaction as a little victory tone played from his computer. "Well, that was…underwhelming," he said as he took special joy in the frustration on his opponent's face. "I'm pretty sure this means our record is 2-2, right?" His opponent, Tony, looked up at him, now with a smirk on his face.

"By my count," Tony said, "our record is 3-2, in my favor!" Tami, the younger girl sitting with them, piped up at Tony's response.

"Well, your count is trash Tony. Digimon only counts one-on-one matches, so its 2-2. How do you expect to beat Jinza at Digimon if you can't even count properly?"

Jinza sighed, letting his eyes wander around the net café they were in, as his two friends began to bicker back and forth. As much as he enjoyed their company, the fact that they could barely tolerate each other got frustrating at times.

"You little brat," muttered Tony, "Why do you have to pester us anyway? Shouldn't you be gossiping at the park with other first-year girls?" It was true that a 14 year old girl spending this much time with two 16 year old upperclassmen was unusual. But rather than giving Tony the animated response he usually aimed for, Tami settled for rolling her eyes at him.

"Girls my age are total airheads. Since you two seem to actually have brains, I'd much rather hang out with you guys." Giving Tony a snide look, she added, "Even if you don't seem interested in using yours." As the argument continued, Jinza turned his attention to the small creature on his game screen. Outside of battles, the Digimon game let players interact with their pets in a v-pet type minigame. Jinza's Digimon, a fuzzy red frog-like creature with long ears, responded happily to Jinza's attention. Tami peered over at Jinza's screen. "So that's your little champion, huh? What's he called?" Jinza beamed up at her.

"This is Elecmon! I hatched him last year when I first got the game. He is definitely my favorite." Truth be told, Jinza often felt as though Elecmon was his real pet, rather than a collection of pixels on his computer. It looked up at him with a sense of endearment and admiration not dissimilar to the look Tami was giving him now.

"You sure care a lot about this game, don't you Jinza?" Jinza scratched his head sheepishly.

"Well to be honest, I've spent so much time playing this game that it's basically the only thing I'm good at!" Remembering that he was talking to an impressionable teen, he quickly corrected himself, "Uh, aside from school, or course! Wouldn't want to fail the graduation exam, right Tony?" Rather than offering agreement, Tony was still focused on Digimon.

"Yeah? Well in my opinion, if you're gonna play Digimon so much, you should spend that time on a _real_ monster!" He proudly turned his computer towards Tami, displaying a red and black dinosaur-like creature. "Say hello to Guilmon! The single most epic Digimon to ever grace a computer!" Tami and Jinza glanced at his screen. Despite being in an out-of-battle minigame, Guilmon seemed to stand battle ready, and it brandished its sharp teeth and claws in what almost looked like a smile. Even Tami seemed impressed.

"I hate to admit it, but it definitely looks...well…epic," Tami conceded. "It's actually kinda cute, in a tough-guy kinda way." Jinza nodded in agreement with her.

"Guilmon is pretty tough. Even though I've basically maxed out Elecmon's stats, it's no surprise that Guilmon has managed to beat him twice." Tony grinned and packed up his computer, satisfied with his friends' judgment of his partner.

"Well, this was fun but I've gotta head home. See you two at school tomorrow?" Jinza and Tami nodded in confirmation. Tony threw on his signature red hoodie, which he even wore in warm weather, and then turned dramatically to the rest of the café. "And I must bid all of you adieu, my beloved supporters. I promise I shall claim victory next time!" Jinza snickered at his best friend's pretentiousness. His speech might have gotten some laughs - if the café hadn't been otherwise empty due the weather. His smirk quickly fell away when Tony approached the DataJump kiosk in order to return home. Tony, anticipating Jinza's discomfort, turned to him quickly before he left. His cocky demeanor had quickly been replaced with genuine concern for his friend.

"Hey Jinza…you gonna use the DataJump to go home today?" Tony asked. Jinza drummed his fingers on the table nervously for a few seconds before responding.

"Yeah! Yeah…I've been feeling better about it, so I'll give it another shot today." Tony grinned at him.

"Great! Meeting up with you becomes a pain when you decide to walk everywhere like a caveman! Catch you later!" With that, he stepped pushed the button to open the door and stepped inside. Even with the door closed, Tony's fire-red hair stuck above the DataJump's light-shield, not due to Tony's height, but rather his inability to keep his hair from sticking in every direction. There was a flash, and Jinza knew that the loud, digitized beep that followed meant his friend had been successfully teleported home. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder as Tami got ready to leave as well.

"I'm gonna head out as well Jinza. Are you sure you'll be fine?" Jinza noted the concern that almost sounded like fear in her question. He quickly brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and stood up.

"Yeah, I'll be fine!" He playfully yanked one of Tami's brunette pigtails before leaning back to avoid the punch he knew would follow, which was easy enough since Tami was about a head shorter than him and Tony. The two laughed it off quickly and headed to the DataJump.

"Message me and Tony when you get home! So we know you're ok." With that, Tami quickly jumped into the kiosk and DataJumped home. Jinza stared at the elevator-like contraption for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he took a deep breath, typed in his address, and stepped in. Just as with Tony, there was a flash of light, and Jinza was home.

Stepping out of his home DataJump, Jinza rubbed his eyes and looked around. He immediately heard his mother call him from the kitchen.

"Jinzaburo! Is that you honey? Come on in, dinner's ready!" Jinza hated that his mother used his full name, but he was willing to tolerate it, since she was actually a fantastic mother. He quickly went to the kitchen and sat down at the table. His mother rushed over with a steaming pot of food, looking like a crazed character out of a comedy. Jinza noted that she had once again donned an apron over her suit, most likely due to coming home late from work. He would find it funny, if he didn't know how hard his mom was working. His mother worked for the Konoe Zaibatsu, the company that basically ruled the world. Every technological advancement of the last half-century could be attributed to them, including the DataJump. It was no wonder their employees hardly had any days off.

"Thanks for the food Mom. You know, you can have me grab us something the next time you run late." Jinza would never admit it out loud, but he hated seeing his mother so tired. Worse, he hated not being able to do anything. His mother gave him a sympathetic look.

"Honey, I appreciate it, but it's fine. Really." Jinza winced internally. He wished his mom would let him do something adult-like for once.

"At least then I'd feel like one," Jinza thought to himself bitterly. The two finished their meal in silence, and then Jinza excused himself to his room. Once he shut his door, Jinza released a huge sigh, as though he had been holding his breath all day. And in a way, he felt like he had. To Jinza, the whole world just seemed to have too much noise in it. His room was quiet. It let him think clearly, and it let him relax. He plugged his computer into its dock, and walked over to the window while it booted up. Osaka seemed to be trapped between two eras. The stark gray and blue skyscrapers of today seemed to tower over the towns and houses of yesterday. Even from his window on the fourth floor, Jinza could pick out people navigating the streets as they went about their lives. These people, who couldn't afford DataJumps, or any other Konoe tech, seemed to live a few years in the past compared to the rest of the city. Jinza recalled Tony's parting words, about walking like a caveman. He was supposedly living better than these people, yet they knew the streets of his city better than he ever would. Maybe that was why Osaka never felt like home to Jinza. The total unfamiliarity of everything. Jinza was awakened from his thoughts by the sound of his computer starting up. After changing from his cumbersome school uniform to his preferred jeans and t-shirt, he sat down and typed in his login. A robotic female voice spoke, "Welcome back to your SekaiSaba profile! What would you like to do today?" Jinza scrolled lazily through his profile, skimming the news reports, IMs from school acquaintances, and coupon offers, until he found his group-chat with Tony and Tami.

"Hey guys. Made it back in once piece." Sent. A few seconds later, Tami responded.

"Hey! Glad you're feeling alright!" Before Jinza could respond to Tami, Tony's response came through.

"Glad you survived :p I might have to start a fight with Konoe if their tech kidnaps you lol" Jinza drummed his fingers on the table. He knew Tony was joking, but the possibility of such a thing still paralyzed him. "Well it's not like I handle anything else better," Jinza silently criticized himself. He took a deep breath, and once he'd composed himself, typed a quick reply.

"Lol careful, they might see this." Tony responded quickly.

"HA! They see everyone's EVERYTHING! You think my messages are more interesting than the president's?" Jinza had to laugh at that. It was true that every country and industry used the SekaiSaba Mainframe, for everything from data storage to communication, but the odds of them using such info maliciously seemed rather low. At least, it did in the case of three rather unordinary teens. Jinza noticed that Tony had instigated another argument with Tami, so he left them to it and tabbed over to his Digimon App. When Elecmon appeared on his screen, it greeted him with an enthusiastic screech and waved at him. Jinza smiled and almost waved back. Even Tami wasn't _that_ enthusiastic to see him most days. His smile faded. Jinza thought back to dinner, and wished that his mom, or anyone, could need him as much as Elecmon seemed to. He dragged a piece of food from the side of the screen and fed it to Elecmon, and was rewarded with a smiley face notification.

"You did great in that match today. Tomorrow I'll run another training exercise for you…" Jinza trailed off. This wasn't the first time he had started speaking to his virtual pet, nor was it the first time he found himself profoundly wishing Elecmon was real. Jinza mused on how alone he felt, and almost cursed himself for feeling that way despite his mom being right downstairs. Or at least, she had been. Most likely, she had already gone back to work. Jinza yawned. He hadn't noticed that he was tired, but given how late it was, he figured he should just go to bed. He tabbed over to the group chat and sent a good night message to his friends and mom, and jumped into bed. Jinza Koyama drifted to sleep while staring at Elecmon running around on his screen, wishing for anything to happen the next day…


	2. Chapter 2 - And On That Day

**Disclaimer: Digimon is copyright property of Akiyoshi Hongo, Bandai Namco, and Toei Animation. Please support the official release. The human characters in this story were created by me.**

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 **Chapter 2: And on that day…**

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 _Get up sleepy head. Get up sleepy head. Get up slee-_. The robotic nagging was cut off by Jinza slamming the snooze button. He made a mental note to pick a new alarm tone, and dragged himself out of bed for school. Jinza took a second to rub the sleep out of his eyes before checking his messages. He had 3 from mom, apologizing in advance for coming home late, one each from Tami and Tony reminding him that Fridays were dress-code optional, and a SekaiSaba newsflash warning of potential power surges in the evening. The last one caught and held Jinza's attention. "Power surges? Those basically never happen… right?" He looked around his room warily. In the event of any emergency, be it a storm, blizzard, what have you; Jinza had always preferred to ride it out at home. He wasn't entirely sure how he would handle being out if something went wrong. These thoughts were interrupted by a message from Tony that read:

"U see the newflash? If anything goes down u crash at my place, ok?" Jinza had to smile at that. He and Tony didn't exactly have a psychic connection, but Tony always seemed to know just what to say to make Jinza feel better, and when to say it…even if he also seemed to anger Tami at just the wrong moment as well. Feeling a bit more confident, Jinza went about preparing for school. Since uniforms were optional, Jinza elected to only don his uniform jacket unbuttoned over his blue t-shirt and khaki pants. He never enjoyed looking formal, but he did like the jacket. As for school supplies, he only really needed his laptop and phone. As he headed downstairs, Jinza quickly pulled up Elecmon on his phone. The Digimon certainly seemed happy to see his master, but Jinza also noticed that Elecmon seemed uneasy about something. "That's weird," Jinza mused, "I've never even seen that animation before." He checked Elecmon's stats: all normal. He couldn't imagine what could be causing it, unless… "You worried about the power surge too?" Jinza ridiculed himself as soon as he asked. How would a v-pet even know what a power surge was? At the very least, the absurdity of his morning thoughts was enough to distract him from his normal anxiety, and he DataJumped to school without any issues. Upon stepping out into the courtyard, he was greeted almost immediately by Tony, who had completely forgone the school uniform in favor of his red hoodie and jeans.

"Goooood Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Tony playfully shoved Jinza as he ran up to him. "Your timing is actually perfect. Tami wanted us to meet her at the mess hall before class, and I was just about to head over there." Eager to distract himself from the morning's news, Jinza happily complied and headed towards the mess hall with Tony. However, he did feel the urge to ask him about one thing before they met with Tami.

"Hey Tony, did you notice anything…I dunno, _weird_ about your Digimon this morning? Like, Elecmon had this weird animation that I hadn't seen before-" Tony spun around and cut Jinza off before he finished. Jinza was about to reprimand his friend for interrupting him, but he was taken aback by how serious Tony looked.

"Guilmon looked really freaked out this morning. Like, super uncomfortable. I'd never seen it before. And when I tried petting him – his response was just way too _real._ Like he _knew_ something was gonna happen." Tony looked like he had seen a ghost. Jinza warily took a couple steps back.

"Hey, come on Tony, you sound like a conspiracy theorist. How could a v-pet _know things_?" Jinza realized that he was trying to convince himself of that just as much as he was trying to convince Tony. Tony only shook his head at Jinza's question.

"I dunno. But this power surge, and the Digimon, it's just…let's keep our eyes peeled, alright?" Jinza nodded slowly, and Tony broke out into his smug grin again. "Now then," he pointed dramatically towards the mess hall, "our royal congress awaits us!" Rather than explain that Kings didn't have congress, Jinza wordlessly followed along, hoping for a distraction that could hold his attention. Upon reaching the mess hall, the two boys quickly spotted Tami sitting on a table, waving them over. She had also passed on wearing her uniform, instead wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt for some British boy-band Jinza had no interest in. Jinza also noticed that Tami was sitting with two girls that he hadn't seen around before. Tami hopped off the table and approached the two boys.

"About time you two slowpokes got here! I've got a couple friends I want you to meet!" She gestured over to the two girls. "Don't be shy you two, come over here and introduce yourselves!" Jinza laughed quietly at the irony of Tami playing friendship-maker when just yesterday she had called her peers air-headed gossips. He took a side glance at Tony, who looked absolutely mortified that Tami had taken his advice. The girl to Tami's right stepped up first. She looked to be the same age as Jinza and Tony, and had chin-length auburn hair and was wearing a simple white blouse and indigo slacks. She confidently put her hand out for a handshake and introduced herself.

"I'm Mayuko Maruyama – third year. I just moved here from Kyoto over the summer." Jinza shook her hand and was about to introduce himself when Tony cut in, unsurprisingly.

"I'm Motonobu Noda, and this is Jinzaburo Koyama. We're also third years. And you can call us Tony and Jinza." Tony tried his best to smile charmingly, but the barely stifled laughter from Tami and Jinza, who were _far_ too familiar with Tony's failed womanizing attempts, made it difficult for him to keep composure. Tony grimaced slightly and made an effort to continue. "If you wanna be a part of our little tribe here, we're gonna have to give you a nickname too! Even Tami here uses one; her real name is Tamika." Tami stuck her tongue out at Tony from behind Mayuko's back, but Mayuko only laughed.

"Well, I guess you could just call me Maya. It's what most of my friends call me, honestly." Foreseeing another snide comment coming from Tony, Jinza quickly interjected. "So, Maya! Uh…do you like Digimon?" Tami and Tony both put their faces in their hands. Jinza did so as well, internally. Unfortunately, Digimon was one of the few things Jinza was really good at talking about, so he often defaulted to it in conversation. Maya raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Well I don't really consider myself a gamer, but I have played around with it a little bit. I mostly play it for the v-pet minigames," Maya responded, to both Jinza's and Tami's surprise. Tony scoffed at Maya's statement.

"Pfffft. What's the point of training a Digimon if they never battle? Their strength just goes to waste then!" Maya leered at Tony.

"I guess you would know about wasting strength." Sensing a tense situation, Jinza quickly called out to the other girl who had been sitting with Tami. She was wearing a simple black sweater and skirt under her uniform blazer, and had been staring at her phone for the duration of the conversation.

"Uh, hey! What's your name? I'm - " Jinza didn't even get to finish his sentence before the girl, without looking up, responded.

"My name is Izumi Tsumura, my dad runs a net café downtown, I'm a second year student, yes I play Digimon, and I don't do nicknames." She looked up at Jinza and Tony. "Does that satisfy your need for socializing?" Jinza nodded, dumbfounded. Izumi nodded back and returned her attention to her phone. Clearly she wasn't as inattentive as Jinza had thought. The sudden interjection of the school bell put the group's little meet-and-greet to an end. As the students began heading their separate ways, Jinza decided to try talking to Maya one more time.

"Hey, uh, if you want any tips on the v-pet aspect of Digimon, just let me know. I've maxed out mine, so I know a few useful tricks." Jinza had honestly expected his attempt at befriending her to be shot down like Tony's, so he was surprised at the smile that broke out on Maya's face.

"That would be great actually! There are a few things I've been trying to figure out. Let's meet up after school, ok?" She put her hand out to shake Jinza's again, but less authoritatively this time. Jinza was taken aback, but shook her hand nonetheless. As she turned to leave, Maya paused, and turned back around to speak to Jinza. "And don't feel weird about talking to me about it, ok? Digimon just feels like raising one of my real pets, so it's not a weird subject for me." Jinza smiled and nodded back. Digimon aside, he was glad that he seemed to be making a new friend, as it was something his mom often urged him to do. Satisfied with the result of the conversation, Jinza ran back to meet Tony at their first class. He figured that there would be plenty of time to get to know Maya after school ended…

Four hours later, school let out for lunch. While he walked to the mess hall to hopefully meet up with the group, which now seemed to include Izumi and Maya, he kept checking the news for any word on the power surge.

"Nothing yet," Jinza thought to himself, "maybe we'll get lucky, and there won't be a surge." Sure enough, none of the news networks had reported anything about a surge, but the warnings were still being circulated. The sound of Tami calling him over to where she and the others were sitting snapped him out of his negativity.

"Hey Jinza, we're over here!" Tami and Maya had already gotten their food and had saved two spots for Jinza and Tony. Izumi was seated at the end of the table, and was staring into space rather than eating. Jinza sat next to Tami, directly across from Maya. "Tony's still in line for food, but we were just talking about Maya's pets." Tami looked to Maya, as if to encourage her to speak up.

Maya quickly said, "Oh yeah! My parents used to run a pet shop in my hometown, and I got to keep a couple of the dogs when we moved here." Maya blushed slightly as she added, "To be honest, I kind of consider my Digimon to be a third pet." She looked to Jinza, as if she was hoping for a similar sentiment from him. Before Jinza had a chance to bring up his own feelings about Digimon, sirens all throughout the building started going off. Tony ran up to the table and seemed to have lost most or all of his composure.

"It's the power surge! The news is saying that power outages are spreading across the whole country!" Tony seemed to be deeply unsettled by this, and his flame-red hair flopped around wildly as he looked around the mess hall. Tami rolled her eyes as she glanced around.

"Well, the power's still on here," Tami observed, "so there probably isn't any reason to panic." Almost as if on cue, every light in the building shut off. Jinza heard Tami groan, and there was also a slapping sound that was probably Tony smacking his own forehead. For a few minutes, the students in the mess hall sat completely still, the silence only occasionally broken by students muttering to each other. It felt like the whole school was waiting for something to happen. Finally, after what felt like forever, the lights came back on. Only this time, they were dull and red. Maya looked around, just as confused as anyone.

"What's with the lights?" Maya asked no one in particular, "Is the power back?"

"No, these are just emergency lights," Izumi said nonchalantly, "Most large buildings have backup generators for occasions like this." She walked over to Jinza and showed him a newsflash on her phone. It read, "ALL PUBLIC BUILDINGS ARE TO CLOSE ASAP. CITIZENS SHOULD DATAJUMP HOME SOON." After everyone had had a chance to read it, Tony decided to speak up.

"Well, I guess that's that. I'm gonna get outta here." Tony looked expectantly at Jinza. "You coming with me?" Jinza looked at his phone. A single message from his mother read, "Won't be home til late. Konoe is working overtime to fix this." Jinza didn't particularly feel like being at home alone yet again, so he agreed to go with Tony. Seeing this, Tami turned to Maya and Izumi.

"Where will you guys go? I'm probably going with Tony and Jinza." She looked at Izumi, who simply shrugged in response. She then looked at May, who seemed ready to go.

"I'll probably go straight home," Maya responded, "My parents won't be home for a while, but I'm sure I can occupy myself."

"I'm pretty sure there's a DataJump down this hallway," Tony said, as he gestured towards the nearest hallway. "The main ones in the courtyard are gonna be crowded, so let's just go out this way." The five students quickly made their way to the DataJump, which was tucked away behind some lockers, right where Tony said it was. Jinza felt like his heart was about to explode. With all of its lights off, the DataJump looked ominous, almost like a futuristic coffin. Jinza suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"Hey! Why isn't it opening?" Tony exclaimed, as he impatiently mashed the button on the front of the kiosk. He looked at each of the other teens, as if he expected one of them to have an answer. Izumi was looking off at nothing in particular, Maya was tapping her foot impatiently, and Tami had her hands on her hips and a look of indignation.

"Tony," Tami groaned, "Please tell me you didn't take us to the _only_ non-functioning DataJump in the building." Tony mashed the button frantically.

"Why isn't this working? Stupid thing!" Tony kicked the side of the kiosk, and then began hopping on one foot in pain. "When this thing boots up I'm gonna go start a fight with Konoe for putting crappy tech in our school!" Jinza felt like he was about to swallow his stomach. The DataJump made him uncomfortable enough when it worked, but this was nearly unbearable. Just as these thoughts entered Jinza's mind, the DataJump lit back up. "Alright!" Tony exclaimed triumphantly. His victory, however, was cut short by an interjection by Maya.

"Um guys?" Maya pointed uncomfortably at the kiosk. "Aren't DataJump lights usually _white_ lights?" Everyone looked at it in confusion. Sure enough, this DataJump was pulsating white and blue light – no wait, it was green – now blue again. The kiosk seemed to be pulsating through the entire rainbow, even shining in colors Jinza hadn't seen before. Jinza blinked twice, wondering if he was hallucinating. He looked to Tony as if to ask, "Are we really seeing this?" Before any of them had a chance to discuss this further, a deafening sound filled the hallway. It was as if a huge mechanical engine had started right in front of them. And yet, the sound had a digitized quality to it, as if it was being played from an old game console. The DataJump opened, and none of the children could believe what they saw inside of it. The kiosk seemed to be filled with rapidly flashing and pulsing lights of every color, swirling around like a vortex. Jinza tried to scream, but his voice caught in his throat. Just as Jinza turned to run from whatever was happening, a huge tailwind seemed to begin blowing from the opposite end of the hall. It took only a couple of seconds for the five teens to realize that they were being _sucked into the DataJump_. All of them screamed for their lives, but there was nothing to be done. Jinza felt himself being pulled into the kiosk, and then suddenly, he could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet. Jinza was only barely able to register that he was falling before flashing lights darkened his vision and he fell unconscious, completely unaware that this would end up being the least strange thing that happened to him that day.


	3. Chapter 3 - Brave New World

**A/N: So from here on out I'm going to be shooting for a monthly update schedule. I may even update bi-monthly, but that will depend on real-life stuff. Thanks for reading this far! If you're enjoying this (or even if you aren't), PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review! Now that that's out of the way, Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Digimon is copyright property of Akiyoshi Hongo, Bandai Namco, and Toei Animation. Please support the official release. The human characters in this story were created by me.**

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 **Chapter 3: Brave New World**

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As Jinza drifted back into consciousness, he felt as though the ground he was lying on was spinning, making it difficult for him to remain coherent enough to get up. Jinza felt around, and realized that he was lying on dirt, rather than the tile of the school hallway. The only thought Jinza was able to fully process was the sudden and troubling question of "Where am I?" These thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice that seemed to be right next to Jinza.

"Hey! Hey, are you gonna be alright? C'mon, wake up already!" The voice repeated this a few more times, and Jinza felt someone poke him in the chest. Jinza eventually struggled to his feet, his vision clearing. Once he was up on his feet, he looked around for the source of the voice, expecting Tony or Tami, but he didn't see anyone nearby. "Hey Jinza! I'm down here!" There was the voice again. Jinza spun around, and looked down at where the voice came from.

"Why, hello there. Would you mind telling me where exactly we are right now?" – is what Jinza wished he had said. Instead, Jinza Koyama screamed at the top of his lungs and nearly passed right back out again. The speaker that had awakened Jinza jumped up and down playfully, and grasped Jinza's hand as though it was trying to shake it.

"Hey, hey, hey, no need to be scared! Don't you recognize me?!" The speaker seemed confused by Jinza's reaction. "We're partners, remember?" Calming down slightly, Jinza looked again at his greeter, and finally processed where he was and what exactly he was looking at. He noticed that he was in what appeared to be a forest clearing, and his hand was being held by the paws of a red, fuzzy frog-like creature. It seemed to come up to Jinza's knee in height, but it also had long rabbit-like ears that stuck up in the air and were almost as long as its body. Jinza looked right back into those big, hopeful eyes, and knew immediately who he was talking to.

"You're – You're my Elecmon!" Jinza exclaimed in disbelief. Elecmon danced around in joy at his master finally recognizing him. Jinza suddenly felt dizzy again, and sat back down to steady himself. He looked at Elecmon for a few more seconds before he finally asked, "I don't understand. Where am I right now? And how are you here? How do you look so _real_?" Elecmon looked at Jinza in confusion.

"Of course I'm real Jinza! I'm your partner! We're in the Digital World!" Elecmon said happily, as though that was a sufficient answer. "I just knew something big was gonna happen today, and I was right! You're here!" He jumped onto Jinza's shoulders as if he expected a piggy-back ride. Jinza, completely dumbfounded, reached up and ruffled the fur on Elecmon's head. He still wasn't sure _where_ he was, but he had processed and understood one thing – he was finally meeting Elecmon. This one thing that he had wanted for so long was finally his, and Jinza didn't care how real it was. He picked up Elecmon and swung him around in the biggest hug he had ever given anyone in his life.

"Elecmon! Elecmon it's really you!" Jinza cheered triumphantly, "We finally get to meet each other!" Jinza's excitement was cut short by a familiar figure bursting out from the trees and nearly plowing right into him and Elecmon.

"Jinza! Thank god you're alive!" Tony sputtered. "I'd been looking for you for almost an hour, and then I heard you screaming, so I came running. Are you - " Tony looked at Elecmon and immediately froze in place. "Uh, Jinza, is that…" Tony trailed off and looked at Jinza, almost finishing the question non-verbally.

"Yeah, it is," Jinza confirmed, "I have no idea how, but it's Elecmon." Tony stared for a few more moments before bursting into laughter.

"Aw man," Tony exclaimed, "this is the best thing ever!" Almost as if on cue, a large red-and-black dinosaur creature emerged from the bushes and stood next to Tony.

"Sorry I'm late Tony," the creature apologized, "you run much faster than I expected". Tony proudly gestured towards his companion.

"You're not the only one who's getting to meet their partner today Jinza! Say hello to Guilmon!" Jinza looked at Guilmon in shock. He immediately noticed the three long claws on each of Guilmon's arms, and the equally sharp teeth in his smile. Guilmon directed this smile at Jinza and Elecmon.

"Hey friends! Nice to meetcha!" Guilmon looked directly at Elecmon. "Long time no see pal. You ready for round five?" Elecmon jumped down onto all fours and assumed what Jinza recognized as a fighting stance.

"Any time lizard-breath!" The two Digimon would likely have started a fight right then if their masters hadn't jumped between them and called them down.

"Now isn't the time Elecmon," Jinza explained, "we need to figure out what's going on here first." Tony nodded in agreement, which earned him a look of confusion from Guilmon.

"What's he mean by that Tony?" Guilmon asked, "You're here, ain't it that simple?" Tony shook his head no.

"Sorry Guilmon, any other time I'd be all for a fight, but we really have no idea where we are right now, or how to get home from here." Tony and Jinza looked at each other. "So, any ideas on what exactly this is?" Tony asked. "VR? AR? Hypnotism?" Jinza shook his head as he looked around at the forest they were in.

"I'm not sure if this is any of those," Jinza said. "Even though this is all way too bizarre, it just feels real, you know?" He looked to Tony for confirmation that he wasn't crazy, and was slightly relieved to see Tony nodding along with him.

"That is true," Tony said as he ran a hand through his hair, "I'm pretty excited to be in a world where Digimon apparently are real, but we came here so suddenly, I'd like at least some answers." Jinza thought for a second before something else hit him.

"Hey! You haven't seen the others, have you?!" He asked Tony frantically. Tony immediately went white as a sheet.

"Oh man, do you think Maya is -", Tony's eyes widened and he quickly added, "And Tami and Izumi are - safe?" Elecmon and Guilmon looked at their masters in confusion. Before either of them could ask anything, a ferocious roar shook the forest around them. Jinza felt his heart quicken, and he felt like he was about to start hyperventilating. He looked at Elecmon in terror, and noticed a similar look in his Digimon's eyes. Tony clenched his fists and glanced at Guilmon, who was crouched over in a battle-ready position.

"Elecmon," Jinza asked warily, "what was that noise?" Elecmon looked at Guilmon with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey Guilmon," he asked, "Which part of the forest are we in again?" The battle ready look on Guilmon's face slowly turned to panic as well, nonverbally confirming Elecmon's suspicions. Jinza's question received a very unfortunate answer when just then, a huge blue bear Digimon leapt into the clearing, unleashing another roar. Aside from its unusual color, two things immediately stuck out to Jinza. First, this Digimon had huge gauntlets on its two front legs, each bearing 3 huge claws. Second, this bear Digimon was roughly the size of a pick-up truck. Both boys and their Digimon screamed, and the Digimon grabbed their masters' hands and pulled them into the forest, with the bear Digimon in hot pursuit. As they frantically charged through the forest, dodging and weaving in hopes of losing their pursuer, Tony decided that it was the perfect time to start asking questions.

"So," Tony started tentatively, as they ran over some above-ground tree roots in the hope that it would buy them some time, "do either of you wanna explain why that thing wants us for dinner?!" Guilmon pulled his master along faster, while Elecmon, who was now riding on Jinza's shoulders, answered the question.

"That would be a Grizzmon, and we were…" Elecmon rubbed his head bashfully, "we were kinda in his territory." Tony and Jinza looked at each other incredulously.

"Of all the lousy luck I've ever had," Jinza moaned as Grizzmon's roars grew louder, "getting dropped into killer bear territory by a malfunctioning DataJump has to be at the top of the list!" As the foursome burst into another clearing, Jinza and Tony only had a few seconds to register that they were running towards Maya and Tami. Jinza saw Tami's lips forming a greeting, but it was drowned out by the increasingly loud roars behind them. Without even stopping to explain, Tony grabbed both girls' hands and practically dragged them after him.

"What the heck is going - " Maya's outrage was cut short by Grizzmon bursting into the clearing, just as the group dove back into the forest and took off running. Tony seemed to be verging on hysteria.

"This can't be real!" Tony screamed, "There is _no way_ this is actually real!" He looked to the others as if he expected agreement from them.

"Tony," Tami said gently at first, "if none of this is real, then _WHY ARE WE RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES?!_ " As the group approached a tangled net of vines and foliage blocking their path, Jinza began thinking of his mother, who probably was completely unaware of the danger her son was in. Fortunately these thoughts, and the undoubtedly similar thoughts of the other kids, were cut short by a sharp whistling coming from their right. The group turned to see the welcome sight of Izumi, beckoning them to hide with her behind a rather large uprooted tree. Upon reuniting in this temporary safety, Jinza and Tony were finally able to process two things. One was the red bird Digimon that had been attached to Maya's shoulder this whole time. Two, was the small rabbit-like Digimon clinging to Izumi's leg.

"Uh guys?" Jinza asked as he pointed awkwardly at the new group members. "Is now a bad time for introductions?" At that moment, Grizzmon leapt over the tree they were hiding behind, and landed in a position that blocked any hope of escape for the group. Jinza put his head in his hands. "I guess it is…" All at once, Jinza felt his throat dry up, his heart began to beat a hole in his chest, and every thought in his head became panicked and frantic. To the surprise of Jinza and Tony, Maya stood up defiantly and stepped forward to face Grizzmon. As Grizzmon snarled aggressively, Maya turned to Tony with a look of conviction on her face.

"Tony," She asked, slowly and intensely, "Hawkmon and I aren't going down without a fight. Are you and Guilmon ready to put your money where your mouth is?" Tony and Guilmon exchanged a single look with each other, and nodded. Just when Jinza thought things couldn't get more bizarre, Izumi and her Digimon stepped forward as well.

"Well," Izumi sighed, "I suppose we'd better help out too. This is Lopmon by the way." As Grizzmon began moving towards the children, Tony barked out a game plan to the others.

"Maya, have Hawkmon fly around and distract him, Izumi and I will take him head-on!" With that, the three Digimon charged forward. Elecmon tugged at Jinza's jacked frantically.

"Jinza c'mon! Aren't we going to do something?" Elecmon pleaded, but Jinza was frozen. All he could do was watch the fear on Tami's face, and the danger his other friends were walking into. He barely had a chance to process anything before the battle started. Hawkmon flew up and then dive bombed towards Grizzmon's face.

" _Beak Pecker!_ " Hawkmon called its attack as it struck Grizzmon in the muzzle and dove to the side, giving an opening for Guilmon to crash into Grizzmon at full speed. Guilmon lunged at Grizzmon with his claws stretched out.

" _Rock Breaker!_ " Guilmon cried as he rammed into Grizzmon, nearly knocking it off balance. Grizzmon struck back with its own claws, and the two Digimon locked claws, turning the fight into a battle of strength, each trying to get the other off-balance. Lopmon took this opportunity to strike Grizzmon with her own attack.

" _Tiny Twister!_ " Lopmon yelled, spinning her floppy ears like propellers and launching a small tornado into Grizzmon. Grizzmon winced, but kept its balance. As he began to push harder against Guilmon, Hawkmon came down for another strike. Jinza watched all of this, frozen in terror. Every fiber of his being was telling him to run, but all he wanted was to help his friends. Tami and Elecmon were both pleading with him now.

"Jinza please!" Tami sobbed, "If you don't help them, they'll – Tony will…" Tami cried harder as Grizzmon overpowered Guilmon, throwing him right into Lopmon and knocking them both away. Grizzmon then turned its attention to Hawkmon, and knocked the bird Digimon straight into Maya, knocking them both down. Letting out a low, guttural growl, Grizzmon began moving towards Guilmon, who was now struggling to his feet. Tony, reacting in the moment to seeing his partner in danger, immediately grabbed a rock and threw it at Grizzmon. He was able to get Grizzmon's attention, but now it was moving towards the children. Maya glared at Tony.

"Nice job," she sneered, "now he's mad at us too." Tony didn't even reply, he was petrified, staring right into Grizzmon's eyes. Jinza looked at Tami, at the Digimon leaping at Grizzmon again, only to be thrown off, and at his friends, who were right in harm's way, and he finally looked at Elecmon. As Jinza looked into those eyes that had stared for so long from the other side of a screen, that were now as real as anything else in that forest, Jinza realized that he finally had what he wanted. He just had to be willing to take it. To the visible shock of everyone – including Grizzmon – Jinza and Elecmon jumped between the children and the rampaging Digimon. Jinza knew that he wasn't exactly the picture of heroism at that moment; Elecmon was less than intimidating, and Jinza himself still had tears on his face. Jinza took a deep breath; he had never been more terrified, but he knew what he had to do.

"Tony," Jinza turned to his friend, "Think you and Guilmon can lay down some cover fire?" Tony grinned and slapped his friend on the back.

"Glad you finally woke up Sleeping Beauty!" Tony laughed and faced Grizzmon. "Alright, let's do this!" Tony signaled to Guilmon, who strafed to the right of Grizzmon and began unleashing attacks.

" _Pyro Sphere!_ " Guilmon began shooting fireballs out of his mouth, which provided a very painful distraction. Taking his chance, Elecmon jumped forward, and unleashed his attack in midair.

" _Super Thunder Strike!_ " Elecmon shot several bolts of electricity from his tails, hitting Grizzmon directly in the neck, and knocking him back at least ten feet. Maya, Izumi, and Tami were visibly shocked by Elecmon's display of power, but Tony just grinned.

"Now _that's_ the Jinza I know and love!" Tony's jubilation was cut short by Grizzmon struggling back to its feet, shaken but still ready to fight. As Guilmon and Elecmon braced for the next round, Hawkmon and Lopmon rejoined them.

"Now ain't this a pretty picture?" Hawkmon quipped, as he smirked at his comrades and straightened the feather tucked in his headband. "Four-on-one odds in our favor, I like it." Lopmon flapped her ears aggressively and took a few deep breaths.

"We can do this you guys," Lopmon said confidently, "We just need to all hit him at once!" The Digimon all looked to their humans for confirmation. Tami finally got up and stood between Tony and Jinza. The five humans all exchanged looks with each other, and wordlessly confirmed that they were going to end this fight together. Jinza took a deep breath, and as Grizzmon leapt towards them for a final attack, he and the other humans all yelled at once –

"Attack him, NOW!" The Digimon unleashed their fury at their opponent, finding newfound strength in their masters' resolve.

" _Feather Strike!_ ", " _Tiny Twister!_ ", " _Pyro Sphere!_ ", " _Super Thunder Strike!_ " All four attacks hit Grizzmon at once, creating a blinding flash of light. When the dust settled, the group saw Grizzmon collapsed under a tree, completely unconscious. As his adrenaline wore off, Jinza was vaguely aware of Tami and Maya hugging each other, Izumi saying something snarky, and Tony saying something completely tone deaf.

"Guys?" Jinza muttered, as the day's events caught up with him, "I think I'm gonna sit down for a bit…" And Jinza Koyama, fresh of his first victory, triumphantly passed out for the second time that day.


End file.
